Howard’s agent declined comment Thursday when asked if the Rapids had inquired about the 36-year-old goalkeeper.

The Rapids declined comment Thursday when asked if Hinchey was traveling to London to meet with Howard. They also declined comment on whether Hinchey’s trip was to visit Arsenal, a club also owned by Stan Kroenke.

The Rapids said Hinchey travels out of the country frequently for a number of different reasons.

Vela, 26, can play on the wing or up front. He’s scored 14 goals in 43 appearances for Mexico since 2007 and 55 goals in 152 games for Real Sociedad of Spain’s La Liga since 2011.

“We have the first crack at signing him,” Paul Bravo, Rapids vice president of soccer operations, said. “There’s a reason why he’s on our discovery list. We communicate that up as well when we do put players like that on because we don’t want to be frivolous about who we put on our discovery list.” Read more…

RAPIDS PRESIDENT TIM HINCHEY

On when the club decided to bring Mastroeni back

“We saw improvement over the second half of the season. It doesn’t mask how upset we are with the entire results of the year, but at the same time, for me, I don’t think it ever got to a point where it was a real consideration.”

“We knew that this was going to take time. We were prepared for that. We as a company, me as a person, I don’t believe in the musical chairs. I don’t like that our industry is so quick to make different decisions. And a lot of that to me is about securing stability within a club. I think if you go back the last two years, we were working toward stability, then we had the whole change with Oscar (Pareja) that created instability — I think we’re still paying for it to some degree. To me there’s no reason why to change. I think we need to continue to focus on what we’re trying to accomplish as a group and I think he’s the right guy to do it.”Read more…

Comments Off on They Said It: Tim Hinchey, Paul Bravo talk about Pablo Mastroeni as Rapids coach

For the second year in a row a plane flew over the Rapids’ home finale, calling for the ousting of the Rapids’ ownership and president.

“The club is still a wreck. KSE & Hinchey out,” the banner read. The plane made several loops over the stadium, beginning in about the 33rd minute, with the Rapids’ trailing 1-0 on Fan Appreciation Night.

The Rapids are owned by Kroenke Sports and Entertainment and the team president is Tim Hinchey.

As the Rapids get closer to the start of the 2015 season, they are still hopeful of bringing in a player or two on loan from Arsenal, the English Premier League side also owned by Kroenke Sports & Entertainment.

“We’ve been talking with Arsenal quite a bit,” said Paul Bravo, Rapids’ vice president of soccer operations and technical director. “There’s a few players that we’ve been monitoring. One that’s currently in an injury situation that we were hoping to bring over. There’s another one that we’re considering at this point, but nothing concrete. But we have been in communication with them in hopes that we can maybe secure one or two players.”

Bravo did not reveal which players the Rapids were eyeing.

Last season, Bravo and Rapids president Tim Hinchey traveled to London to meet with Ivan Gazidis, chief executive of Arsenal, to discuss how the clubs could collaborate in a more meaningful way. The possibility of player loans and shared scouting resources were discussed.

As for the likelihood the Rapids will land an Arsenal player on loan this season, Bravo pegged the chances at a coin flip, 50-50.

Toronto FC have had quite the offseason (again) resulting in four designated players on the roster (again) after the additions of Jozy Altidore and Sebastian Giovinco. They must shed one DP by March 1, and Gilberto appears to be the odd man out.

A tweet that placed blame on the Rapids front office for the club’s recent struggles apparently did not sit well with team officials and led to the firing last week of beat writer Chris Bianchi, according to e-mails obtained by The Denver Post.

“Say it once, say it again: Front office deserves much more blame than coaching staff,” Bianchi tweeted from his @Rapids_News account on Oct. 7, in a reply to a fan who was voicing his faith in the front office to get the Rapids back on the winning path.

The tweet drew the ire of Rapids’ President Tim Hinchey, who fired off an e-mail to Bianchi demanding an explanation.

The mlssoccer.com beat writer provided a series of emails to The Denver Post that were exchanges with Hinchey. Bianchi defended his opinion that a lack of defensive depth, inaction during the summer transfer window and the decision to part with midfielder Martin Rivero were more to blame for the Rapids’ lengthy winless streak (now at 13 games) than the “growing pains” of first-year coach Pablo Mastroeni.